Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, or simply Fantastic Beasts, is an upcoming 2016 British fantasy drama film written by J. K. Rowling as her screenwriting debut and inspired by Rowling's book of the same name. A spin-off/prequel of the Harry Potter film series and directed by David Yates, the film will be the first installment of a trilogy. Rowling is also producing the film alongside David Heyman, Steve Kloves, and Lionel Wigram. The film stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, David Chester and Colin Farrell. Principal photography commenced on August 17, 2015, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is scheduled to be released on November 18, 2016 worldwide in the 3D, IMAX 4K Laser format, and other large format theatres. Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Cast 3 Production 3.1 Development 3.2 Pre-production 3.3 Filming 4 Release 4.1 Promotion 4.2 Marketing 5 Sequels 6 Accolades 7 References 8 External links Synopsis In 1926, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) arrives at the Magical Congress of the United States of America for a meeting with an important official. At this meeting is a magically expanded briefcase, which houses a number of dangerous creatures and their habitats. When the creatures escape from the briefcase, it sends the American wizarding authorities after Newt, and threatens to strain even further the state of magical and non-magical relations. The mistake has a devastating effect on both the Wizarding World and the Muggle World, which is already in a dangerous place, due to the threatening presence of the fanatical New Salem Philanthropic Society, an extremist organisation dedicated to the eradication of wizard-kind. Newt battles to correct the mistake, and the horrors of the resultant increase in violence, fear, and tension felt between magical and non-magical peoples. Cast Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander,1 an eccentric, introverted wizard, the future author of the textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and an employee at the British Ministry of Magic. Katherine Waterston as Porpentina "Tina" Goldstein,2 a down-to-earth and grounded witch and employee of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), who longs to fight for what's right. Forced to work in an office well below her skill level due to her standing up for the wrong person. Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski, a newly single No-Maj factory worker/aspiring baker who is exposed to the New York City magical community after he meets Newt.3 Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein,45 Porpentina's younger sister and roommate, described as a bombshell, and a free-spirited and big-hearted, and an accomplished Legilimens. Colin Farrell as Percival Graves,6 a high-ranking Auror, confidante to the President of the American magical community. Set with the task of tracking down Newt. Samantha Morton as Mary Lou,7 the narrow-minded No-Maj and sinister leader of the New Salem Philanthropic Society (the NSPS, or "The Second-Salemers"), an extremist group whose goals include exposing and killing wizards and witches. Ezra Miller as Credence,8910 Mary Lou's troubled adopted son. Described as mysterious. Reportedly plays a big role in the wizarding world canon. Carmen Ejogo as President Seraphina Picquery, the President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America. Faith Wood-Blagrove as Modesty,11 a haunted young girl with the ability to see deep into people. Has an inner strength and stillness. Jon Voight12 as Henry Shaw, Sr., a US senator who holds a rally picketed by the New Salem Philanthropic Society. Ron Perlman13 as Gnarlack, a gangster who owns a speakeasy nightclub who comes across Newt. Jenn Murray as Chastity814 Gemma Chan George Najsarek Production This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Too much indiscriminate detail and overly frequent use of dates. Please help improve this article if you can. (August 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Development Warner Bros. Pictures announced in September 2013 that J. K. Rowling would be making her screenwriting debut with the first of a planned series of films based upon Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, part of an expanded creative partnership with Rowling. Rowling stated that the films, which will focus on the life of Newt Scamander, will neither be a prequel nor sequel to the Harry Potter series, though will be set in the same world as the book series. The first film will be set seventy years prior to the Potter films, in 1920s New York.15 David Heyman, who produced all the Harry Potter films, will come back to work again with the series.16 Warner Bros. later confirmed that the story would be released as a trilogy.1718 Three months later, they announced shooting would take place at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire.19 After Alfonso Cuarón declined involvement,20 Warner Bros. announced that David Yates would direct at least the first installment of a planned trilogy.21 On November 23, 2014, producer Heyman reported that Rowling had completed the script and Yates would start filming in 2015.22 Heyman confirmed that Yates and Steve Kloves had been working with Rowling on the screenplay.23 Kloves previously wrote the screenplays for seven of the eight Harry Potter films. Philippe Rousselot will be the director of photography.24 On April 7, 2016 it was officially announced that James Newton Howard will compose the score.25 On April 19, 2016 it was announced a batch of new characters would be created for the film, all of which would be creatively over-seen by Rowling. The first character to be seen was a leaked 'reptilian'-like creature. Pre-production In April 2015, Variety reported that Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne was the top choice for the lead role of Newt Scamander.26 Matt Smith and Nicholas Hoult were also considered.2627 For the role of Queenie, a witch, the studio was deciding between Saoirse Ronan, Dakota Fanning, Lili Simmons, and Alison Sudol, while Kate Upton, Katherine Waterston, and Elizabeth Debicki were being considered for the role of Queenie's older sister, Tina.28 Greg Silverman announced Redmayne had been cast as Newt Scamander, the Wizarding World's preeminent magizoologist, in June 2015.1 After the studio announced they had officially cast Waterston to play the witch Tina,2 Ezra Miller was reported to be in talks for the role of Credence, a magically powered person whom Scamander meets.10 In July 2015, Sudol was confirmed for the role of Queenie. This will be her feature film debut.5 After the studio met with Josh Gad and Michael Cera,10 comedian Dan Fogler was cast as Jacob, a non-magical person whom Newt befriends, and Miller was cast as Credence.9 Cera passed on the Fantastic Beasts role to voice the animated The Lego Batman Movie.29 In August, Colin Farrell was cast in the film to play a wizard named Graves with whom Scamander meets in New York.6 Following thousands of auditions in an open casting call, a ten-year-old British girl named Faith Wood-Blagrove was chosen for the part of Modesty.11 Later that month, Irish actress Jenn Murray signed on to star as Chastity,14 and Samantha Morton was cast as Mary Lou.7 In October 2015, The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Jon Voight, Gemma Chan, Carmen Ejogo and Ron Perlman were cast in unnamed roles.1213 Filming Principal photography on the film commenced on August 17, 2015, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden,783031 scenes were also shot in London.32 On October 20, filming began in Liverpool at the St George's Hall, where the crew was covering the location with fake snow and placing classic cars on the road to transform the city into 1920s New York.33 Filming concluded on January 28, 2016. Release The film will be released on November 18, 2016, in 3D and the new IMAX 4K Laser system.134 Promotion The video game Lego Dimensions is scheduled to release a "story pack" based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, containing a six-level campaign that adapts the events of the film. Other expansion packs based on the film are set to be released in the following months. Marketing On December 10, 2015, it was announced that an "announcement trailer" would be released five days later, on December 15.35 Along with the one-minute trailer, a teaser poster was released.3637 Rowling has also released four pieces of writing exclusively as an introduction to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, titled History of Magic in North America.3839 Rowling's discussion of elements of Native American culture including the Navajo skinwalkers in her first chapter drew extreme criticism from some Native Americans including the blogger Adrienne Keene, who accused her of cultural insensitivity and cultural appropriation, and accusations that she has no understanding of North American history or politics.404142 On April 10, 2016, the first "teaser trailer" was released during the MTV Movie Awards.43 On April 26, 2016, it was announced that script of the film will be released in the form of a book on November 19.44 More visual publicity for the film was released at CineEurope and VidCon on June 23. Sequels In October 2014, the studio announced the film will be the start of a trilogy. The second installment is set to be released on November 16, 2018, followed by the third installment on November 20, 2020.4546 David Yates confirmed that Rowling had written the screenplay for the second film and had gotten ideas for the third.47 Accolades Award Category Nominee Result Ref. Teen Choice Awards Choice AnTEENcipated Movie Pending 48 References 1.^ Jump up to: a b c McMillan, Graeme (1 June 2015). "Eddie Redmayne Officially Cast in 'Harry Potter' Prequel 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 June 2015. 2.^ Jump up to: a b Kroll, Justin (15 June 2015). "'Fantastic Beasts': Katherine Waterston Lands Female Lead in 'Harry Potter' Spinoff". Variety. Retrieved 16 June 2015. 3.Jump up ^ "Pottermore - Everything we've learned about ‘Fantastic Beasts'". Pottermore. Retrieved 29 November 2015. 4.Jump up ^ J.K. Rowling jk_rowling (15 August 2015). "Well, I think it's widely known that that characters of (Porpen)tina and Queenie are sisters, but not that their surname is Goldstein." (Tweet). Retrieved 17 August 2015. 5.^ Jump up to: a b Kroll, Justin (9 July 2015). "'Fantastic Beasts': Alison Sudol Joins Eddie Redmayne in 'Harry Potter' Spinoff (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 9 July 2015. 6.^ Jump up to: a b Ford, Rebecca (5 August 2015). "Colin Farrell Joins Harry Potter Spinoff 'Fantastic Beasts' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 August 2015. 7.^ Jump up to: a b c "David Yates-Helmed 'Fantastic Beast' Filming Starts Up". Deadline.com. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015. 8.^ Jump up to: a b c Osorio, Paulette (17 August 2015). "Filming Gets Underway on 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'" (Press release). Warner Bros. Pictures. Business Wire. 9.^ Jump up to: a b Fleming Jr, Mike (10 July 2015). "Dan Fogler Cast In 'Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them' As Jacob: Comic Con". Deadline.com. Retrieved 11 July 2015. 10.^ Jump up to: a b c Kroll, Justin (24 June 2015). "Ezra Miller Eyes 'Harry Potter' Spinoff 'Fantastic Beasts' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 25 June 2015. 11.^ Jump up to: a b "Fantastic Beasts actress chosen from open auditions". BBC. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015. 12.^ Jump up to: a b Kit, Borys (5 October 2015). "'Harry Potter' Spinoff 'Fantastic Beasts' Casts Jon Voight (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 October 2015. 13.^ Jump up to: a b Kit, Borys (8 October 2015). "Harry Potter Spinoff 'Fantastic Beasts' Casts Ron Perlman (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 October 2015. 14.^ Jump up to: a b Sneider, Jeff (6 August 2015). "J.K. Rowling's 'Fantastic Beasts' Casts 'Brooklyn' Actress Jenn Murray (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved 7 August 2015. 15.Jump up ^ Nancy Tartagloine (12 September 2013). "Warner Bros, J.K. Rowling Team For New 'Harry Potter'-Inspired Film Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 12 September 2013. 16.Jump up ^ "'Harry Potter' producer David Heyman officially on board to produce 'Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them'". Page to Premiere. Retrieved 18 October 2013. 17.Jump up ^ Kroll, Justin (29 March 2014). "J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' Spinoff 'Fantastic Beasts' Will Be Trilogy". Variety. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 18.Jump up ^ "Harry Potter spin-off 'will be a film trilogy'". BBC News. 30 March 2014. 19.Jump up ^ Mallary, Hayley (3 July 2014). "Filmimg Location for 'Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them' Announced". Page To Premier. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014. 20.Jump up ^ Chitwood, Adam (25 May 2014). "Alfonso Cuaron Says He Will Not Direct FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 25 May 2014. 21.Jump up ^ "David Yates In Talks For 'Harry Potter' Spin-Off 'Fantastic Beasts'". deadline.com. 22.Jump up ^ Vincent, Alice (23 November 2014). "Harry Potter producer: 'JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts script is wonderful'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 November 2014. 23.Jump up ^ "X-Men’s Jane Goldman Joining Fables Film Writing Team, Updates on Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts". The Mary Sue. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015. 24.Jump up ^ "Below-the-Line Bookings, Signings and News". Variety. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015. 25.Jump up ^ "James Newton Howard to Score ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’". Film Music Reporter. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016. 26.^ Jump up to: a b Kroll, Justin (10 April 2015). "Eddie Redmayne the Frontrunner to Star in 'Harry Potter' Spinoff (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 11 April 2015. 27.Jump up ^ Hawkes, Rebecca (25 March 2015). "Matt Smith cast in Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 May 2015. 28.Jump up ^ Sneider, Jeff (27 May 2015). "Kate Upton, Saoirse Ronan, Dakota Fanning Eyed for J.K. Rowling's 'Fantastic Beasts' Trilogy (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved 31 May 2015. 29.Jump up ^ Sneider, Jeff (16 July 2015). "Michael Cera Passes on 'Fantastic Beasts' to Voice Robin in 'Lego Batman'". TheWrap. Retrieved 17 July 2015. 30.Jump up ^ Dan Fogler mrdanfogler (16 August 2015). "#fantasticBeasts tomorrow the adventure really begins! my mustache is ready! are you?! so blessed!..." (Tweet). Retrieved 17 August 2015. 31.Jump up ^ "Filming To Begin August 17th". FantasticBeastsMovies.com. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015. 32.Jump up ^ Steven Weintraub colliderfrosty (11 August 2015). "FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM starts filming in London on Monday. Heard most of the shoot is in London." (Tweet). Retrieved 17 August 2015. 33.Jump up ^ Miles, Tina (20 October 2015). "Fake snow on Harry Potter prequelset as Liverpool filming makes progress". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 21 October 2015. 34.Jump up ^ Kilday, Gregg (13 May 2014). "New J.K. Rowling Movie 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' Gets Release Date". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 May 2014. 35.Jump up ^ Fantastic Beasts FantasticBeasts (10 December 2015). "Your first glimpse at #FantasticBeasts will arrive on December 15. pic.twitter.com/8Qi2QFfG7X" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 December 2015. 36.Jump up ^ Fantastic Beasts FantasticBeasts (15 December 2015). "One hour until the #FantasticBeasts trailer. pic.twitter.com/nSgAxvUZmd" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 December 2015. 37.Jump up ^ Fantastic Beasts FantasticBeasts (15 December 2015). "The Announcement Trailer for #FantasticBeasts is here. t.co/kVFBnSN3b7" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 December 2015. 38.Jump up ^ "History of Magic in North America". Pottermore. Retrieved 11 March 2016. 39.Jump up ^ Bradley, Laura (8 March 2016). "J.K. Rowling Wrote a Series About the History of North American Magic, and You Can Read the First Part Today". Slate. Retrieved 11 March 2016. 40.Jump up ^ Keene, Adrienne. "Magic in North America Part 1: Ugh.". Native Appropriations. Retrieved 28 May 2016. 41.Jump up ^ Delbyck, Cole (9 March 2016). "Native American Fans Aren't Happy with J.K. Rowling's New Story". Huffington Post. Retrieved 28 May 2016. 42.Jump up ^ Flood, Alison (9 March 2016). "JK Rowling under fire for writing about 'Native American' wizards". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2016. 43.Jump up ^ Sullivan, Kevin P. "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them trailer debuts at MTV Movie Awards". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 April 2016. 44.Jump up ^ Maloney, Jennifer. "The ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ Screenplay to be Published as a Hardcover". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 26 April 2016. 45.Jump up ^ Sims, Andrew (15 October 2014). "WB names David Yates 'Fantastic Beasts' director". hypable.com. 46.Jump up ^ Lieberman, David (15 October 2014). "Warner Bros’ Kevin Tsujihara Outlines Major Film & TV Push Amid Cost Cuts: Time Warner Investor Day". Deadline.com. 47.Jump up ^ Bell, Amanda (1 July 2016). "Fantastic Beasts Movie Sequel Has Already Been Written". screenrant.com. 48.Jump up ^ Vulpo, Mike (May 24, 2016). "Teen Choice Awards 2016 Nominations Announced: See the "First Wave" of Potential Winners". E!. Archived from the original on May 25, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016. External links Official website Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them at the Internet Movie Database Category:English-language films Category:Upcoming films Category:2016 films Category:2016 3D films Category:2010s adventure films Category:2010s fantasy films Category:American 3D films Category:American films Category:American fantasy adventure films Category:British adventure films Category:British fantasy films Category:British films Category:Films directed by David Yates Category:Films produced by David Heyman Category:Film spin-offs Category:Films set in 1926 Category:Films shot in London Category:Films using computer-generated imagery Category:Harry Potter (film series) Category:Heyday Films films Category:High fantasy films Category:IMAX films Category:Warner Bros. films Category:Films shot in England Category:Films set in the United States Category:Films set in England